During the past year, the Drosophila genome has been sequenced. More than 60% of genes implicated in human disease have Drosophila orthologues. Developments in RNAmediated interference and homologous recombination have made ‘reverse genetics’ feasible in Drosophila. Conventional Drosophila genetics is being used increasingly to place human disease genes of unknown function in the context of functional pathways.
Addresses
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Building 149,
13th Street, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA
*e-mail: abernard@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
†e-mail: hariharan@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
Current Opinion in Genetics & Development 2001, 11:274–278
0959-437X/01/$ — see front matter
© 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Abbreviations
NF1 neurofibromatosis type 1
SCA spinocerebellar ataxia
Several developments in the past year have strengthened the case for using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism for the study of human diseases. In this review, we highlight advances in three areas. First, the sequence of the euchromatic portion of the Drosophila genome has been reported. Analysis of the sequence demonstrated that the majority of genes implicated in a variety of human diseases have orthologues in Drosophila. Second, techniques have been developed that increase the feasibility of ‘reverse genetics’ in Drosophila. As a result, the loss-offunction phenotype of a human disease gene orthologue can be studied by using either targeted gene replacement or RNA-mediated interference. Finally, screens for enhancers and suppressors of Drosophila mutant phenotypes have facilitated the placement of human disease genes in the context of known pathways.
